


私の守護天使

by Lost_And_Insane



Series: Genyatta One-Shots [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, Self-Hatred, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 15:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17942513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lost_And_Insane/pseuds/Lost_And_Insane
Summary: The Shambali monks have noticed a strange lack of angry anti-omnic protesters as of late. Usually, a hate-filled group would show up at the village on the daily, chanting slurs and physically harassing any omnic that happened to walk among the human villagers. According to them, the omnics had no business being in touch with humans.Regardless of Mondatta’s protests, Zenyatta decides to find out what has happened to cause the protesters’ ‘sudden change of heart’. What he doesn’t expect to find is an intimidating cyborg hiding out by the forest path, threatening any demonstrators that dare come near the village.Although, Zenyatta doesn’t find the stranger all that intimidating; all he sees is a hurt soul looking to redeem himself.The stranger has helped Zenyatta and the other omnics for long enough. Now, it’s time to return the favor.





	私の守護天使

According to the tales of Zenyatta’s brothers and sisters, the village had been strangely tranquil these last couple of weeks, and as Zenyatta went around he realized the rumors were true. There weren’t any loud voices following him, nor was anyone pushing him around. Zenyatta had grown so used to the protesters plaguing the village, that he was genuinely surprised to find them all gone.

It all started a month ago, when Lithianna had returned from a trip to the village perkier than usual. As soon as she’d stepped foot into the monastery, she went on about how she’d been able to visit without running into any trouble, or having any arguments. The other monks celebrated it, of course, but hadn’t expected these stories to become a regular occurrence.

Every day, when one of Zenyatta’s brothers or sisters returned from the village, they shared stories of similar situations. It sounded like the village had turned into a much saver place all of a sudden, and it was puzzling. The Shambali monks had grown so accustomed to running into the protesters that they didn’t really know what to do now that they were gone.

While most of the omnics had long decided to simply rejoice at the fact that the protesters had left, calling it a ‘sudden change of heart’, Zenyatta refused to accept that so easily. It wasn’t that he was complaining; being able to visit his human friends without being in any danger was something he would never take for granted. No, it was just that Zen felt something was off about this.

The protesters had never come from the village itself, instead living in the bigger town down in the valley. Zenyatta didn’t believe that they’d all suddenly had a change of heart, so something bad must’ve happened in the valley for them to stop coming here. Besides, Zen had felt a shift in the air, and even now, as he left through the village’s gates and wandered into the forest, he could feel a hum of discord around him. 

Zen stuck closely to the path, slowly but steadily making his way down the mountain. It had been a while since he’d last traveled down this far, the last time having been with Mondatta to walk him to the train station, but at least he wouldn’t get lost. There was only one path to follow, after all, and the feeling of discord was leading him in the right direction.

Snow had covered everything around Zen, and he was thankful he’d learned how to float. There weren’t any recent tracks on the path – so it was true no one from the town traveled up anymore. With every few feet Zen traveled, the discord seemed to grow heavier, and that while it was still quite a ways down to the valley. Could it be that the discord originated from somewhere along this forest path, rather than from the town?

Zen was proven right when he heard loud voices ahead of him, and the sense of discord in the air had grown impossibly large. He glanced down the path, waiting for someone to come in sight, and soon enough, a group of five people appeared in the distance, walking up the path towards the village.

They were no doubt protesters, judging from the anti-omnic signs they were carrying, and Zen felt slightly disappointed that his brothers and sisters had truly been wrong about their change of heart. A small part of him had hoped they’d finally been accepted by the townsfolk. He had no time to linger on this, however, as the angry protesters were still walking upwards and Zen was stood in their way.

Before Zen could jump out of sight or hurry back up to the village, the protesters had spotted him. After a moment of pointing and shouting, they broke into a jog, and Zen knew that he was screwed. Perhaps he should’ve listened to his brothers and stayed back at the monastery.

The discord in the air reached an all time high, and while Zen had assumed it belonged to one or more of the protesters, he realized it felt different. It wasn’t the hatred from the anti-omnic group. Instead, it was sadness; the unmistakable bitterness of loneliness and self-loathing.

There was someone else here.

Right as Zen thought to look around, a figure came falling down from the trees, landing skillfully right in front of him. The stranger had barely made any sound when he landed, and he was so light that the snow underneath him didn’t even crack. He was completely cybernetic, and his silver armor was almost invisible against the snow until several green lights slowly flickered on, reflecting eerily on the ground.

As the stranger stood up straight, the protesters came to a halt. They eyed the stranger wearily, and from behind him, Zen did the same.

There was a long katana attached to his back, and another, smaller blade at his hip. There wasn’t a single part of his body that looked human, yet from the discord radiating off him in waves, Zen knew that he had to be.

“What the fuck are you?”

One of the protesters, a woman, had stepped forward, looking at the stranger with an expression of disgust. The stranger, however, did not seem fazed at all.

“Leave,” he said curtly. He had an accent, but Zen couldn’t quite place it based on that one word alone.

The protesters gazed at him for a moment longer before they burst into laughter, comically clutching at their stomachs and wiping away fake tears. The stranger waited patiently for them to finish.

“What- What did you just say?” the woman asked, still laughing. She eyed Zen behind the cyborg, and a glare found its way onto her face.

“Leave,” the cyborg repeated himself, paying the glare no mind.

The woman took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down from her laughing fit. “I thought so,” she said unkindly. She gave the man next to her a slap on the shoulder, and he startled a little before following her lead in taking a couple of threatening steps forward.

Instantly, the cyborg unsheathed the katana on his back and pointed it forward, aiming right at the woman’s chest. He’d moved so quickly that Zenyatta could’ve missed it if he hadn’t been paying as much attention to the cyborg as he had been. The protesters froze, clearly not having spotted the katana earlier.

“Last warning,” the stranger said. “Leave.”

Ah. Japanese.

Although Zen didn’t want this to end violently, he doubted he could do anything to stop the cyborg from attacking if he’d set his mind to it. Luckily, from the worried glances between the protesters, it seemed like Zen didn’t have to worry.

“We’ll be back for you lot,” the woman said harshly, pointing at Zen, who was still calmly hovering behind the cyborg. The group then begrudgingly turned around and stumbled back down the path, shooting dirty glares over their shoulders.

As the cyborg sheathed his katana, he finally turned around to face Zenyatta. So this had been the entire reason why the protesters were no longer bothering the omnics? This stranger, who was essentially drowning in his own discord, was hiding out on the path and scaring all of them away?

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous to walk around on your own?” the cyborg scoffed loudly, surprising Zen.

“I could ask you the same,” he responded. The stranger did not like that.

“Unlike you, I am not defenceless,” he snarled, looking Zen up and down. “What are you even doing this far down the mountain?”

Now that the cyborg was speaking more, the Japanese accent in his heavily synthesized voice was clear as day. Zenyatta wondered whether the man had traveled straight from Japan, or if he’d made other stops along the way before settling in these mountains. His appearance gave little away, but if Zen had to make a guess, the stranger looked more like a weapon than a human. Overwatch crossed his mind.

“I traveled here because I could sense your discord,” Zen said honestly.

The stranger stared at him for a long moment, and Zen wished he could see the man’s face behind his green visor. It was much easier to read emotions off someone’s expressions, and all Zen could sense from the cyborg was his discord; there was so much anger that Zen found it hard to read anything else.

“My what?” the stranger asked after a moment. He then quickly shook his head, as if erasing the curiosity as soon as it came. “Doesn’t matter. Just don’t travel this far down again.”

With that order, the stranger turned around and visibly prepared himself to climb back into the trees. Without a moment’s hesitation, Zen reached out and grabbed his arm, feeling the man instantly tense underneath his grip. His left hand shot out towards his blade, but he didn’t draw it.

“What’s your name?” Zen asked calmly, like he hadn’t noticed the cyborg’s instant urge to attack him. He didn’t let go just yet, afraid that the man would leap away as soon as he did.

“It does not matter,” the stranger responded quickly.

Once the man had turned back around, Zen figured it was safe to let go again. Slowly, the stranger seemed less on edge, hand moving away from his weapon once more.

“I beg to differ,” Zenyatta said, letting out a gentle hum. “We’ve noticed the lack of protesters. You’re the one keeping them away, aren’t you?”

He’d expected the man to deny it; a quick ‘you’re mistaken’ before he would try to leave again. Instead, he stayed silent for a long while, and when Zen had almost given up on receiving an answer he asked, “What of it?”

“Why are you doing it?” Zen asked carefully. “What brings you here to chase away protesters?”

Zenyatta already had his guesses, of course, but assumptions could still be far from the truth. Judging from the cyborg’s anger, it could very well be something personal – the man himself was half omnic, after all. However, Zen felt like this was different. The man’s hatred was different than that of the protesters, so he wondered if his’ was aimed purely at himself rather than at others. In that case, Zen suspected this was simply a way for the cyborg to vent his anger; perhaps he was looking to redeem himself by doing what he saw as a good deed? Threatening or attacking the anti-omnic groups to protect the monastery?

“It.. does not matter,” the man said slowly, repeating his previous statement. “Do you not want me to keep them away from you?”

It seemed he was genuinely asking, for once not sounding angry or annoyed by Zen. This is why the omnic thought long before he came up with an answer.

“I do not think this is the correct way of bringing peace to the village,” he said. The cyborg tilted his head, but Zen continued. “In order to truly be at peace, we should talk to the protesters and-”

“There is no correct way to bring peace,” the man interrupted him. From the sudden bitterness in his voice, Zen knew he spoke of experience – whatever that experience may be.

Zenyatta briefly considered pushing the subject a little, but the cyborg had tensed up once more so he decided against it. From the way the man looked round, he was considering leaving again, and Zen wasn’t sure if he could stop him once more.

After a long silence, the green lights on the cyborg’s body dimmed slowly, and he said, “If you wish for me to leave, then so be it.”

Without waiting for Zen to confirm or deny the claim, the man ran up against the nearest tree and skillfully climbed up onto the many branches. Within seconds, Zenyatta had lost sight of him, and without thinking the omnic loudly called out, “I want you to stay.”

There was only a deafening silence that followed. The wind was starting to pick up, and it only took the snow a few seconds to completely cover any traces the cyborg had made in the snow, however few there had been in the first place.

Unknowing of whether the stranger was still within earshot, Zenyatta spoke up once more, “I would like it if you could stay with us for a while. Either in the village or up in the monastery with me.”

Although there was no response at all, nor any movement up in the trees, Zenyatta stayed where he was and waited. The man’s discord still weighed heavily in the air, but that didn’t mean he was still near. Regardless, Zenyatta stayed in place, watching the clouds grow thicker in the sky above.

“Are you going to wait here forever?”

Eventually, after what must’ve been about 20 minutes, Zenyatta was happily surprised to see the cyborg standing behind him. The man’s posture was different – his shoulders were hunched sadly, and he no longer looked like he would attack at any given moment. 

“If that’s what it takes to convince you,” Zen said simply. The man looked away.

“I don’t belong here,” he said quietly; Zen had to move closer to him to still hear him properly. “Humans don’t mix well with me.”

Zen was taken aback by that comment, and he wondered if he’d been wrong about the man being cyborg after all.

“You are human, are you not?” he asked gently.

The stranger’s anger seemed to return instantly, and he reached up. For a moment, Zen was convinced he was reaching to his katana, but instead, he forcefully pulled off his visor.

“I am not human,” he snarled. “I am a monster.”

Now without his visor, Zen could finally see the stranger’s face. The man’s skin was as scarred as could be, covered in deep gashes and what seemed like terrible burn wounds. His left eye was bright red, while the other was a soft, deep brown; Zen found himself mesmerized for a while, looking into his eyes, and only remembered to speak when the man scoffed and turned away.

“I do not see a monster,” Zen spoke, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. He had to be careful of his words. “I only see a struggling soul who feels so much anger.”

The glare on the man’s face seemed to burn right through Zen. “I am not struggling.”

“You’re from Overwatch, aren’t you?” Zen asked abruptly, throwing the man completely off guard. His glare faltered and he gaped at Zen.

“What- How did you..?”

“ _There is no correct way to bring peace,_ ” Zenyatta repeated. “Sounds like you speak from personal experience, am I correct?”

The cyborg stayed silent, but the answer was already clear. His anger had completely vanished again, replaced by unmistakable sadness, and Zen wondered how often he went through mood-switches like these.

“Overwatch recruited you, promising you peace. When you did not find it, you decided to leave and fight for it yourself,” Zen spoke. He was taking a risk making guesses like these; if he was wrong he would not only make a fool of himself, but also likely scare the man away.

From the cyborg’s shocked expression, however, Zenyatta knew that he’d guessed right.

“You don’t know me,” he said quickly. Zen was certain it had meant to come out as a snarl, yet the cyborg hadn’t quite managed it.

With a hum, Zen instantly responded, “That may be, but I would like to.” 

The man seemed very conflicted now. He gaped at Zen for a moment longer before quickly putting his visor back on, disappearing behind the emotionless metal. He stared at his hands, speechless, and didn’t look back up at the omnic.

The sun had gone down by now, and the wind was howling loudly around the two. Zen knew he needed to get back up to the monastery before the other monks would worry about him, but he didn’t want to travel back up alone; he wanted to help this cyborg overcome his discord, but he wouldn’t be able to if the man refused to accept his aid.

“What’s your name?” Zenyatta tried again, and the cyborg finally looked back up at him.

“It..” he started hesitantly, and for a moment Zen worried that he would once again tell him it didn’t matter, but then, ever so softly, he said, “It’s Genji.”

It felt like everything had shifted, then. The cyborg was no longer a pained stranger that Zenyatta needed to convince, and with his name, the air around them felt lighter – finally, it seemed like a wall between them had broken.

“It is nice to meet you, Genji,” Zen said kindly, his relief undoubtedly showing in his voice. “My name is Zenyatta.”

“Zenyatta..” Genji repeated almost subconsciously; Zen wasn’t sure whether he knew he’d said it out loud. He stared at Zen for a long moment but eventually redirected his gaze to the dark, cloudy sky above them, almost as if he was startled to see it had turned dark.

Carefully, Zenyatta gestured up the path. “Perhaps it is best we seek shelter. Will you be accompanying me?”

The wait for an answer was almost unbearable, but after a long pause, Genji nodded once; it was a small and hesitant gesture, yet it meant  _everything_ .

Together, they walked back up the mountain, and Zen knew that from that moment, things would be very different for the both of them.


End file.
